Turkish aquaculture company opens farm in Dominican Republic

Turkish aquaculture company Kılıç Deniz has started growing out its initial batch of fingerlings at a fish farm that it bought in the Dominican Republic. Transferred from Turkey, juvenile fish will be sold to the North and South American markets once grown.

Kılıç Deniz, the world’s biggest bream and bass producer, hopes the first batch will be ready for sale next year.

“We and some other Turkish companies already export Mediterranean fish to US market,” commented İhsan Bozan, Products Deputy President of Board. “In order to sell more to [the] American market, we chose Dominican Republic that provides transportation advantages and is suitable for growing Mediterranean fish. We would like to carry our knowledge and experience in aquaculture there and reproduce local species as well.”

The company exports Turkish fish all around the world, primarily to Europe and Russia. Currently, it grows a total of 60 thousand tonnes of bream, bass, drum and trout every year and exports 70 per cent of its production.

The Dominican business is not its first venture outside of Turkey. Kılıç Deniz has trout facilities in Albania, fish-feed raw material production in Mauritania, and says it is researching a number of African countries, including Somalia, for future investment.